star magnolia succumbs
ancient limbs grown weary
one winter’s weight takes her all the way down
mourning gazes from dirty windows
absence reels in repetition
barren’s such heavy baggage
imagination is comfort escape
so dig a hole for remembrance
plant a seedling
aid her fragile will reach to grow
one bright spring birdsong morning
a single dogwood blossom opens
four tender petals
a fragile peace
balance on the wind🪶
Peace to all who enter
Banner that above each hall
I roll my sister toward
a sunshine room
There are so few places here to roam
She talks more or less nonsense than
before she crossed the line
Was it by choice or was she pushed
like Thompson’s Pavanne
No one knows or speaks aloud
I must have been looking elsewhere
on that day
Caught the remainder change rolling my way
I miss my sister—
Where has she gone?
A rolling complication
Two wide eyed blues afraid of what is
What’s to come what may may not be
Cracked fragments rising falling memory
Drummers dance to rhythms of their
nameless mountain valley reverie
Unsigned solace
I hear voices of heart song offerings
open hands drawing grace in unity
We look with eyes of thoughts and dream
She asks me if I see the baby crying in the sky🪶
Tonight I did sit with a friend
I raised a glass to her graceful way, her end
We shared some quiet joy laughter
unexpected—-what are these tears here for?
Recalled our unimportant stories
so we might rebuild, maybe make them new
We didn’t do any of that but sometimes
I wish I were that kind of resource wistful
Make her young and wise
Make her well—-
Clouds drew nearer
hey it looked a bit like beauty or a little rain
We held hands like child naturals
ran through faded long grass horse fields
I leaned back once, distracted by the wind
She could be so fast if you weren’t ready
something bigger happening somewhere
When I turned with a smile, half a word
still unfolding from I want to tell you this!
my hand held only brittle harvest seeds
memories falling like a stream
I called I didn’t I swear here everywhere
It’s only me here sitting silent held
together by heartbeat and the autumn winds
Still I am over and over
carry me one more
She is no longer there🪶
There is then and there is now
before and after
There is
the difference between
occupied and vacant
Pulse
Breath
break
Silence
these bare walls
I light a candle for the Story Man today
Long may his stories linger
In peace may his raven soar
I light a candle for the Story Man today
True Pencil Notes my old friend for you this day
What words can I say that won’t give my aching heart too much away
Regret
Reminiscence
Redirect
Guilt insistence
Survival
Melancholy
Memories
Some nights when sleep won’t come I let it be as it may
Let darkness sit beside me while I contemplate awake
Now and then I’ve watched my thoughts wander to you
I’ve looked but not too hard
Did you ever look for me
What is it we hope to achieve by our reverie
We lost something or we let each other slip slowly out of view
What does it matter
What is there left in this mysterious life to figure out
Drifters sway together parlay awhile then part lose or win
No reasons offered none returned
Last night I searched your name
No rational expectations
No expectations at all
I search places people ideas every day
I am not unlike the I then of the curious kind
And searching just as often saves me from wrestling with presence in mind
When did we last meet
What did we talk about
What did we decide
Who was last not to write
Somewhere and someone else along our crooked separate highways
To unknown yet predetermined destinies
Remember these scenes:
You at the bus stop on Denman in coastal rains again waiting for me
You poised always ready and me stumbling unsteady through time
Both of us watching for what was inside while stepping just outside prescribed lines
We were single raincoat bus riders then
Occupying our cubbyhole apartments in the occupant heavy West End
Why should the smokers have the prime furniture
They have their fog to comfort them
I said there’s no need to send requisitions for change
Synchronized in willingness and deviant vision
Wait for departing lunch people then we’d rearrange
Ah, I hear your laughing voice rise as we struggle up those stairs
What about those bright yellow stockings you used to wear
Bumble Bee woman
That black and white photograph of you and me standing close laughing
When we were both bleach blondes and hopefully young
Matching robes flashing in summer morning’s light winds
Luminescent as our sun licking away Pacific sea sins
So what is your smile doing tonight among these year old obituaries
Smuggling my cat in the No Pets Allowed elevator
His striped tail keeping four/four time from the box
While we avoid eye contact with your suspicious neighbour
Lists grow short as these hours of light
Those who know us knew us when over there before better than or
Still under construction
Oh maybe I ought to have known or guessed
You gave me a pair of desert boots when I came to see you after
The move a long long time ago
And when I arrived home I could find only one.
Behind these words are fingers
attached to corporeal being
a universe away yet right beside you, breathing
We speak we exhibit we opine we wander
we meet here or elsewhere briefly
we develop rapport, or repelling
Virtual and physical crossover
barriers remain as barriers lift
sometimes trust sometimes commonality, caring
Exchanges effect changes
Revolutions Reverie Revelation.
Not a sound I heard for weeks now
but our project works like that, with gaps
either you withheld or I wasn’t listening
No matter I’ve never seen your face
I have seen you clearly, there on a hilltop, unveiled
your arrangement of words hope flowers in sunshine
I will miss your brilliant light and excellence
the gentle brutality of your wisdom, your truths
and your presence behind the words I read.
Goodnight, my virtual friend
Go lightly on your journey
Goodnight.
Starshapes, wide black sky
turn thoughts away
from earth’s cruel and petty
things to dream deep lament
Losses unidentified.
Flutter of wings.